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Oprah Winfrey wishes people had spent less time watching the Grammys on Sunday, and more time watching her.
In a direct appeal to her 9 million Twitter followers, the former talk show queen begged, “Every 1 who can please turn to OWN especially if you have a Nielsen box.”
The tweet was later removed, although another tweet that said “Commercial Grammy people.. u can turn to OWN” is still up.
While many quickly labeled the TV personality as “desperate” and “unethical,” Oprah was equally fast at smacking down the criticism.
She tweeted to one accusatory follower, “‘desperate’ not ever a part of my vocab,” and wrote to another that “unethical [is] a little harsh.”
In actuality, Oprah’s plea was against the rules.
Nielsen prohibits TV personalities from directly appealing to Nielsen box holders to change their viewing habits.
Such incidents, the company says, can lead to inflated — and biased — numbers.
A humbled Oprah issued a mea culpa on Monday, saying, “I removed the tweet at the request of Nielsen. I intended no harm and apologize for the reference.”
Interestingly enough, Oprah herself was watching the Grammys, too, on Sunday.
The media mogul claimed she was in a Georgia hotel, which didn’t carry OWN.
What do you think of Oprah’s Twitter plea?
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